Matthew 6:25-30

This year we are covering the four Gospel Accounts together in chronological order.

In the previous post, we covered Matthew 6:22-24. Here was the conclusion:

Jesus stated that everyone is either serving God or serving the world.

During the Matthew Series, we covered these chapters in detail. Remember, the purpose of this year's Series is to show the chronology and the role of each passage relative to the occurrence of other passages. For the rest of this Series, with each post I will provide a link to the associated Matthew Series post for those who want to go in depth with each passage. For example, here is the link to the Matthew Series for today's post: Matthew 6:25-30.

The previous post served as the transition between the first half of Matthew chapter 6 which dealt with Reward and the second half of Matthew chapter 6 which focused on how to resist serving the world's system with specific examples.


Matthew 6
"25 Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?"

(In the first half of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus presented a Big Picture message for that section: Do your righteousness in private so God can Reward you. Then Jesus went through three specific examples: giving alms, prayer, and fasting. The previous post served as a transition where Jesus gave the Big Picture message for this section: You can't serve both God and the world. Verse 25 were Jesus' three specific examples of serving the world. They were worrying about what you will: eat, drink, and wear.)

(Jesus, in typical Rabbi fashion, made His first point through a Question: Isn't life more than food and drink (first two specific examples) and the body more than what you wear (the third specific example)? Jesus basically stated that a person who served God would see the spiritual is greater than the physical.)


(In the post titled "Luke 4:22-30", we covered the New Testament Sermon format:
-PREMISE: a Statement of WHAT I believe
-REASON: a Statement of WHY I believe it
-SUPPORT: three examples from outside myself.)

(Jesus' PREMISE was that you shouldn't be anxious for what you eat, drink, or wear. Jesus' REASON was that life and the body were more important than these. Next, Jesus gave His SUPPORT...)

"26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?"

(Jesus' first SUPPORT was the birds. They don't worry about the food and drink...yet they are provided for. Jesus then asked, "Aren't you of more value to God than the birds?" Notice, Jesus implied we are more valuable than animals.)

"27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?"

(Jesus' second SUPPORT was to ask how your being anxious adds anything to your life.)

"28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

(Jesus' third SUPPORT were the lilies of the field and the grass. They are clothed better than Solomon...and again, Jesus finished by pointing out we are more valuable than the plants. Jesus concluded this section by asking this Question of those of little faith. Faith is believing in something you can't see...either because it is invisible or it hasn't happened yet. Clearly, being anxious about your life is a failure to believe in something that hasn't happened yet...and people with little faith are susceptible to serving the world instead of God.)


CONCLUSION
Jesus gave three specific examples where people can become susceptible to serving the world instead of serving God: food, drink, and clothing.

Next Post